Gunmen target Sinn Fein man's home

Bullet-proof glass saved the family of a prominent Sinn Fein councillor from possible death.

Two bullets were fired at west Belfast home of Paul Butler last night, striking the window of the living room, but they failed to penetrate the room where his partner and young son and daughter were sitting, he said.

Loyalists were being blamed for the latest in a series of attacks on the Lisburn councillor.

"This has come on the back of Sinn Fein's success in the Assembly election and I think there are people who are determined to kill people in Sinn Fein," he said.

"They came here with no regard for my family, they could have killed my son or daughter."

Police said they were investigating the firing of two shots at the house in the Lenadoon area.

Mr Butler said he had just left the house when his partner phoned him to say there had been an attack.

"I immediately came back and saw the shot marks in the window. It's bullet-proof glass and they didn't get through but you can see the marks," he said.

His nine-year-old daughter had been so traumatised by the incident that he had been forced to move her out of the house for the night, he said.

Police sealed off the area around the house while they carried out an investigation. It was the latest in a series of attacks on Mr Butler. In August the same house was petrol bombed and graffiti has also been daubed in the area. He said last Valentine's Day he received a bullet through the post.